The Spigelau Crystal Glass Company, first mentioned in 1521 and now a subsidiary of Riedel, has introduced tree new crystal glasses designed specifically for beer. The brochure describes them like this.
Throughout the world, there is a fast growing range of different beers just waiting to be discovered. In order to get most out of the characteristics of beer (appearance, aroma, taste, finish) it is essential to choose the right glass.
To cover all these aspects, we at Spiegelau used our expertise and 500 years experience in making crystal to develop three elegant, especially thin blown beer glasses matching the world‘s most common beer styles.
According their literature, the tulip glass is designed for pilsners and Belgian style ales, saying the “open mouth allows for an intense release of flavours.” The half-liter glass is meant for pale lagers, ales, English strong ales and German Helles, further claiming that “being slightly wider at the mouth than at the foot, this glass properly presents the typical flavours and aromatics” in those styles. Finally, the “tall glass accentuates the aromas and flavours naturally found in wheat beers. It requires a slow gentle pour at the beginning and when the beer is almost full, a more direct pour to create a thick, creamy foam.” They suggest it should be used for German wheat beers, Belgian Whites (Witbier) and other wheat ales.